Author Topic: Sweet Potato Experiment! (Read 7146 times)

gwynleg · « **Reply #40 on:** June 16, 2007, 16:47:12 »

Has anyone successfully grown these? Saw another thread which seemed to suggest they take up lots of space but may only give 1-2 potatoes. Would love to know if this is the usual as I only have a small but very full allotment!

saddad · « **Reply #41 on:** June 16, 2007, 19:05:43 »

They certainly trail Trixiebell... and are related to Morning Glory so probably do climb. My indoor one only produced one tuber last year Gwynleg but it did weigh almost 5lb... I'd put it in the greenhouse in that hot july and it never rooted away from the watering pot next to it... my problem..
;D

Tora · « **Reply #42 on:** June 18, 2007, 11:01:29 »

Kea, maybe Kumara is the most suitable sweet potato for producing slips. I have only one tuber and had loads of slips and they do grow surprisingly quickly! I tried producing slips with a different kind of tuber last year and it did nothing for several months. It finally produced 3 slips in summer, which was obviously too late.
I hope the slips will actually produce lots of tubers... I will be gutted if they fail.

Kea · « **Reply #43 on:** June 19, 2007, 08:52:35 »

I don't know but I've put 3 Kumara in jars and they have produced a lot of slips and when I take them off more grow from the same 'eye'. One set from one kumara grow really fast and tall, you can almost see them growing. Another one the slips have remained short so there is a lot of variation. This is probably because the plant breeders in NZ have ignored kumara until recently as an exportable crop. Now they will breed out the flavour like they did the Kiwifruit! Oh yes they did! i was at the conference where they talked about breeding out the flavour and making them bigger so the US would buy them as Americans like bland fruit, supposedly!

manicscousers · « **Reply #44 on:** June 28, 2007, 19:41:25 »

here you are, dp..piccies of the remaining 2 sweet pots, got roots on if you're interested :)

saddad · « **Reply #45 on:** June 28, 2007, 23:23:57 »

Here are my Beauregard Slips in the border... when I planted them out, they are getting going now.

;D

cacran · « **Reply #46 on:** June 29, 2007, 07:36:39 »

What a lurvely greenhouse Saddad. I still have not grown any slips from my sweet potato. Just tiny sprouts that seem to get no bigger. :'(

manicscousers · « **Reply #47 on:** June 29, 2007, 13:21:52 »

these are the ones in the poly border, just starting to climb..not as organised as you, sad, not as much room in between ;D

Tora · « **Reply #48 on:** June 29, 2007, 13:22:46 »

Kea, I didn't know what happened with kiwi fruits! It's crazy to breed out the flavour in my opinion. ::) I hope our Kumara grow well... we can keep good flavoured Kumara going secretly here in UK while commertial growers breed out the flavour. ;) I think Kumara is by far the best flavoured sweet potato you can buy in UK. I know orange-fleshed one is very popular but I find it too stringy and watery, no better than winter squashes. Kumara tastes very similar to sweet potatoes I used to eat in Japan, which are not available over here.

I have now finished planting my Kumara slips - I think one tuber produced about 20 good-sized slips. Ones planted out earlier have established already and new shoots are showing through the soil. :)

cambourne7 · « **Reply #49 on:** June 29, 2007, 13:26:58 »

Hi

All but one of my slips have died and this one is now about 7 inches long and i think ready to be planted out.

I am going to harden it off over the next week and plant out in about 2 weeks.

I have added a tiny amount of miracle grow to the water and there a healthy root system established.

I was hoping to pop it out today but the temp is quite low outside and the rain is falling like rods so i have left it on the window ledge.

cambourne7

Doris_Pinks · « **Reply #50 on:** June 29, 2007, 13:27:26 »

Oh yes please Manics! Will PM you! ;D ;D
Think I have one that survived the slugs............better than nought I suppose! :-\

manicscousers · « **Reply #51 on:** June 29, 2007, 13:55:11 »

cambourne, have you got a handy cloche, the sweet pots need quite a long time to produce the roots..ours are only 4" long and I've planted them :)

cornykev · « **Reply #52 on:** June 29, 2007, 16:33:50 »

Don't sit there for to long or Saddad or the blighters will climb up them legs. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

cambourne7 · « **Reply #53 on:** June 30, 2007, 11:50:51 »

Quote from: manicscousers on June 29, 2007, 13:55:11

cambourne, have you got a handy cloche, the sweet pots need quite a long time to produce the roots..ours are only 4" long and I've planted them :)

Hi

No cloche but there forming good roots at the mo and when i make the bed i will add blood, bone & Fish to the soil to help get them going.

I do have a coldframe plastic cover i plan on using this for the year round courgettes so i have crops thoughout winter i might try and put it together for the sweetpotato :) Which might save me having to get it hardened off :)

Cambourne7

cornykev · « **Reply #54 on:** June 30, 2007, 13:33:06 »

Question, ! have twisted off eight slips and they are growing happily :), but two slips that are still on the sweet spuds have long vines with leaves, these are a foot and two foot long but there are no white roots forming do I leave these on the potato in the glass ??? or what, help I'm stuck. :-\ ??? ;D ;D ;D

Trixiebelle · « **Reply #55 on:** June 30, 2007, 14:00:57 »

Don't understand Kev?

Have you not twisted off the 2 slips that are growing on the SP and put them in water?

I thought that was when they started to show roots and not when they were growing on the original SP?

Confused of Nottingham

I've planted 6 slips out and they're looking very miserable ::) Mind you, I would be miserable in this weather as well.

calamityjayneuk · « **Reply #56 on:** June 30, 2007, 14:01:30 »

Loads of questions others have asked haven't been answered, and I wanted to know too - so I did a search and found this page which has nice simple clear info about sweet pots and answered all my q's

http://www.annettemcfarlane.com/Stories/Sweet_Potato.pdf

Hope this is helps someone, I'm dying to have a go, but as usual am probably too late :-\ might try anyway, practice for next year

cornykev · « **Reply #57 on:** June 30, 2007, 14:17:01 »

Trix all the ones I potted had small roots on them when they were still on the SP, a few that didn't I put in water and nothing happened to them so I potted and they died, because these ones are so big I didn't want to take off the SP and they didn't gain any roots and died. I will check out Jayne's findings cheers for that. ;D ;D ;D

mc55 · « **Reply #58 on:** June 30, 2007, 15:50:33 »

some of mine had roots when I potted them and some didn't, they all seem OK - I've watered them pretty well (the ones I got from T&M last year were really long, but had no roots - the instructions were to pot them up and keep for 3 weeks before planting out). Mine were all different sizes, but generally very small.

Jeannine · « **Reply #59 on:** June 30, 2007, 16:08:51 »

It might be worth a mention here, but the folks in the US don't use the water, they put the sweet potato in damp soil and when the slips are about 8 inches they twist them off and plant them, they never go into water. I tried this and it was slower to get the slips, in fact someone sent me some as I thought mine would not make it. Of course they have and I have several now, I potted them straight fom the mother spud into soil, no rooting in water. They are all fine.

XX Jeannine

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Author Topic: Sweet Potato Experiment! (Read 7146 times)